Three years after the return of Master Chief in Halo 4, Xbox gamers are ramping up for

343's second addition to the Halo series. Welcome to the skilled channel and today we're

looking at Halo 5. The Didact may have been defeated, but we know Covenant rebels and

Promethean warriors are teaming up for something that can't be good � and Chief has gone

missing, along with the remaining Spartan II's of Blue Team. It's up to Fireteam Osiris

to track down the UNSC's hero, but both teams are in for plenty of plot twists. Meanwhile,

the Halo multiplayer experience has doubled-down on previous successes and taken inspiration

from other gaming franchises. Are you excited yet? Here's the top 10 new features we're

most looking forward to:

No. 10: Master Chief's Fireteam. We know he's a hero who can do it all alone, but sometimes

it's nice to have him work with people who aren't going to get eaten by the Flood or

blasted away by the latest Forerunner assault working alongside you. And with this being

our first real post-Cortana experience with the Chief, we'll get to see how he develops

as both a person and a soldier in his tactics while working alongside Blue Team. This will

be the first time players consistently get to be Master Chief and work in a team setting

with the same squadmates. Might come in handy when deciding to play through a mission on

legendary...except they can actually get taken out and you'll have revive them, bringing

us to the next point.

No. 9: Revives. Similar to what many Destiny players know, if you or your teammates take

too damage damage, there is now a small window of opportunity to revive them and get that

firepower back in the battle immediately. There is still the ability to respawn teammates

while hiding in a safe location just like previous Halo titles, but the ability to revive

downed squadmates brings a risk and reward scenario into each battle that may determine

if you end up relying on that last checkpoint you passed five minutes ago.

No. 8: Infinite sprint. If you just said �Finally� when you heard about sprinting, then you're

not alone. Halo 5 is the first in the franchise to make it standard instead of a limited ability

or being unable to sprint at all. Games in general have made this an expected feature,

with Call of Duty leading the way, and Halo 5 delivers on this expectation. One catch,

though: Your shields won't recharge while you sprint, so you'll have to be able to run

and hide to get your defenses back up.

No. 7: New thruster packs. It looks like these packs may be standard in arena modes, but

now instead of providing just an extra boost in the air, they can also push you side-to-side

to give you more lateral ability. If you're looking to make any sort of assault, then

quickly tap-dancing your way past enemy fire using these boosters will make your day.

No. 6: Four-player co-op. Following in the footsteps of rival Call of Duty, for the first

time you'll be able to take on the campaign with three of your best friends at once via

Xbox Live. But as Josh Holmes, 343's Studio Head noted on his Halo: Waypoint developer's

blog, you don't need all three friends to play co-op. The campaign is built so each

of your three squadmates are AI-controlled, and replaced with friends whenever they jump

into your mission. Or jump out. 343 plans to have dedicated servers for these co-op

missions in an effort to create the smoothest experience possible. You'll always have four

active squad members and the mission can continue, even if one of your friend's connections drops

off in the middle.

No. 5: Two stories. Halo veterans have primarily enjoyed whatever crazy-odds endeavor Master

Chief is undertaking, but have also played in the shoes of the Arbiter and an ODST in

first-person experiences. While Halo 2 gave us a chance to play as another main character,

the newest installment will carry that theme throughout the campaign, providing a stark

difference from previous titles. Players work through the story of both Blue Team and Fireteam

Osiris in different missions. They'll go back and forth between the two squads while playing

through the campaign, providing two distinctly-different team and mission experiences within the same

overarching story until the story arcs come colliding together. If there's a potential

Spartan vs. Spartan throwdown waiting for us, then that only gets us more pumped to

find out what happens.

No. 4: Squad commands. Mass Effect and Ghost Recon may have showcased the art of putting

your squad in a position to succeed, but Halo 5 brings it to the forefront. Using real-time

commands allows you to send AI teammates to revive others, attack specific targets, move

into a particular area, and more. This represents a new set of tactics you can choose to take

advantage of while progressing through the campaign.

No. 3: Requisition cards. You know you were tired of camping where the Mantis would spawn

three minutes from now, hoping to hold out long enough to snatch it and turn the game

in your team's favor.

Now, you can bring in your own Mantis...or tank...or banshee....or even weapon of choice

once you do well enough on the battlefield to unlock the chance. Requisition card packs

will give you weapons and vehicles that you can summon from terminals within the game,

and you'll be able to bring them to the front lines once you've leveled your requisition

level within each individual game. The better you're doing in the match, the more options

you'll have available to call in. The best part is while someone is getting their first

sniper rifle, another could be firing up a rocket launcher or energy sword. It's all

up to each individual player's preferences and available cards at the unlocked requisition

level. The longer the game goes on, the stronger the weapons and vehicles you'll see, providing

a more intense experience as the match moves towards it's end.

Let's be honest, it's always an encouraging sign when the game devs � in this case,

Chris Lee, 343's Director of Production, says �No more fighting for that one spot on the

map where the scorpion tank spawns � now I bring my scorpion tank in with me in my

req collection.� There's more details on the making of Warzone on the Halo Waypoint

site.

No. 2: Awesome beatdowns. Sure, it's nice sneaking up behind your buddy and cracking

his back while laughing, or shooting him a couple of times before smacking him down.

But now, you can ram a multiplayer opponent with Shoulder Charge � potentially one-shotting

him if he isn't paying attention � or pound the ever-loving crap out of him with Ground

Slam. You know you'll be smiling the first time your friends yells in surprise because

you took him out in style.

No. 1: Warzone. As 343 Industries' Creative Director Tim Longo says, Warzone, Halo 5's

brand new multiplayer experience, is aimed at combining all of the best aspects of Halo

into one arena. While there will still be your typical 4-on-4 showdowns in other playlists,

Warzone brings together an ultimate combination of player vs. player and player vs. environment

� at the same time. Featuring elements of Dominion, Slayer, Big Team Battle, and more,

this high-octane experience will give players a huge set of choices to make in how he or

she will contribute to the team. If you want to defend your base, you can. If you want

to wipe out the opposing team up front or from a sniping position, you can. If you want

to take down the AI bosses that spawn at various times, you can.

Did I say AI bosses? That's right, 343 has introduced an AI element that changes how

your team ratchets up it's score. Depending on the map and spawned characters, you can

get a score boost by taking the bosses out � but you'll be battling your live opponents

at the same time, providing even more chaos to the mix.

You even have new options when it comes to how you win, which can be achieved by the

usual first-to-one-thousand points via kills and bases, or by destroying the enemy team's

core � providing a way to win even if your team is outmatched on the kill-to-death ratios.

Just capture the three control points to expose the opposing team's core, take it out, and

victory is yours regardless of what the scoreboard says.

Outtro: With new game modes, weapons, campaign play, and ways to make your friends cry �uncle�

Halo 5 stands to make a mark on the Xbox One platform. We've never seen a franchise potentially

redefine itself so much from one game to the next, but Halo 5: Guardians may be just the

title to show us how it's done. And considering how much of success Halo 4 brought as 343's

first foray into our consoles, we can't wait for the next great game coming out in October.

What are your favorite features in Halo 5? Let us know in the comments and subscribe

to the skilled channel for more coverage on Halo and other cool action games.